SpaceX has announced it launched 60 new Starlink satellites into orbit Tuesday. This feat marks SpaceX’s 43rd flight of a previously-flown rocket booster, an incredible achievement in the world of reusable rocket boosters.
The launch took place at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after a long series of cancelled launch attempts in recent weeks.
SpaceX’s Starlink, a satellite-based internet provider, is considered a major hope for those in rural locations throughout the world. The technology is expected to revolutionize the internet, and provide affordable, quick internet access to people around the globe.
Falcon 9 launches 60 Starlink satellites to orbit, completing SpaceX's 43rd flight of a previously flown rocket booster pic.twitter.com/QHPxX1sac2
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 6, 2020
Siva Bharadvaj, one of SpaceX’s spacecraft operations engineers, called the Starlink network a “work in progress.” The network is still in an employee-only beta, though reports predict a public beta to be released later this year.
Bharadvaj told reporters, “Starlink is a constellation of satellites that can provide high-speed, low-latency internet all over the globe, particularly in remote and rural areas where connectivity is often limited and sometimes completely unavailable.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that this launch would allow the company to move its testing into a more public phase.
Musk tweeted, “Once these satellites reach their target position, we will be able to roll out a fairly wide public beta in northern US & hopefully southern Canada.” He continued, “Other countries to follow as soon as we receive regulatory approval.”
Despite its beta-status, Starlink was used recently for emergency responders in rural Washington to help the community recover from a devastating wildfire. The technology is sure to change a lot about the internet landscape, and we can all look forward to when this network goes public.
